Review: San Francisco Ballet shows they have gained much from their 75 years

Meryl Cates | Oct 13, 2008 | 0

San Francisco Ballet's "The Fifth Season"

For all those who have placed San Francisco Ballet among the ranks of a regional ballet company, a re-evaluation may be in order.  The company has seen many changes over its 75 years, including its gradual progression from a fine American ballet company to one with international acclaim and top-rate dancers.

On their American Tour, which is at the New York City Center from October 10th to the 18th, they are performing a variety of programs with choreography of both new and old.  Sunday, October 12th, presented four works that solidified the dancer's refined ability and prowess on the dance scene.

The first work was, Artistic Director, Helgi Tomasson's The Fifth Season, which was a lovely and unpretentious introduction to the strength and diversity of the dancers.  Broken down into five segments and concluding in a grandioso finale with the whole cast, the choreography was arranged in very classical formations (especially the end), but along the way was infused with contemporary lines.  

The choreography was a clear interpretation of the musical nuances.  The waltz segment boasted undertones of waltzing and grandeur, the romance with tender, melting qualities, and the tango was striking and fiery.  In the tango variation, principal Sofiane Sylve, formerly of The New York City Ballet and Dutch National Ballet, was powerful and sharp, commanding the attention necessary to the sensuality of a tango.  

However, one of the finest moments in the piece was in the Largo pas de deux with Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun, a soloist with the company, and Tiit Helimets.  The beautifully stretched movements were expected to accompany the slow nature of a Largo, but the most rousing moments in the choreography came in the unique lifts and sustained positions in arabesque.  Both dancers created such lasting images with lifts that seemed as if Pipit-Suksun was perched atop Helimet's shoulders or back.

Tomasson's Concerto Grosso was a pleasant piece set to Concerto XII in D Minor "La Follia" after Archangelo Corelli Op. 5.   It shed the frill of costuming for different color unitards, and was clearly meant to showcase the virtuosity and strength of the male dancers in the company.   The five men did not disappoint, with exciting and clean beats and turns, to exquisitely executed adagios.  The repetition of the baroque music was most creatively utilized in the transitions, as each dancer seamlessly filtered into his variation while the other finished and made an exit.

Mark Morris' Joyride was certainly one of the flashiest ballets on the program, with designer, Isaac Mizrahi's, assorted unitards in metallic shades, all with a number plate continually displaying random numbers.   The ballet began with dancers moving about the stage in clustered groupings, sometimes walking, and sometimes making clear gestural movements.   The combination of choreography and music, at times, lent itself to a dream-like state when your mind has difficulty sorting out the pieces and making sense of the visual happenings.  There were also some literal movements with the music, like a rhythmic sideways flick of the leg to a shrill or beat in the music.  

There was an overall play on turning in and out, which could easily fall into the category of trite, but was mostly used to form interesting angles of the body, especially of the arms and legs.  Sarah Van Patten was swift in her transitions, using her precise technique to avoid awkward angles as she moved from one shape to the next.

The final ballet of the afternoon was Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, where we can see Tomasson's clear New York City Ballet influence and stylization in the company.  Still fresh and ever contemporary, the demanding choreography did not defeat the dancers, and was performed with the signature Balanchine style, down to the flick of the hand or the  sharp footwork.

The Sanguinic variation, performed by Vanessa Zahorian and Joan Boada, both principals, embodied the timing and feeling of the choreography, hitting each step at the precise moment in the music, necessary to the excitement of the pas de deux.   Damian Smith, in Phlegmatic, used his exquisite arms and feet for breathtaking articulation, at times his arms owning the fluidity of water ripples.

From Mark Morris to Balanchine, the company was able to fuse itself to each style, and with dancers of diverse backgrounds and training the common thread of the program was their sheer ability.

Print Email Link

• Share
  • add to facebook
  • add to del.icio.us
  • add to digg
  • add to yahoo
  • related at technorati

Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Modern, Broadway, Ballroom, Teacher, Enthusiast, Parent, Retailer, Studio, Performance, San Francisco Ballet, The New York City Center (all tags)